A number of articles have been created and developed for absorbing and/or containing bodily fluids. For those articles that are addressed to the issue of bodily fluids produced during menstruation, a commonly used sanitary napkin is placed onto the interior of a woman's undergarment to protect that undergarment and adjacent garment(s) that the woman wears. This type of ordinary napkin, or panty liner, comprises an inner layer of absorbent material which is worn next to the body, and further comprises a substantially fluid impervious outer layer that is between the absorbent material and the undergarment. The outer layer is constructed to prevent leakage of the menses from the absorbent material to the undergarment and adjacent garments.
A number of articles directed to this field of invention, while addressing the particular needs stated therein, have a variety of problems associated therewith. One significant problem is despite the attempts of others to provide a liner that absorbs without leakage, leakage still occurs. For example, the devices disclosed in the patents to Poulsen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,929,379; to Testa, U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,334; and to Grenier, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,429,631 and 5,613,964. Generally, these prior art devices teach the use of a plurality of stacked sanitary napkins such that when the uppermost napkin is soiled, it is removed to expose the next fresh unit for use. The problem with these types of devices is age-old as leakage still occurs. Additionally, the bulkiness of the respective devices causes unwanted bulging of the wearer's adjacent garments so as to appear unsightly and uncomfortable.
In an attempt to resolve the problem of leakage, still others have devised absorbent articles used in conjunction with secondary absorbent articles. Some examples of these devices can be seen in the patent to Lavon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,989,006 and the patent to Sherrod et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,262,615. The Lavon et al. device teaches the complicated use of an openable pocket within a chassis, and a non-removable absorbable core component for placement of a removable core component thereon all within the chassis. Needless to say that the multiple absorbent members create the unsightly bulk heretofore identified. Similarly, the Sherrod et al. device incorporates absorbent inserts for use with an outer absorbent garment.
Still yet other prior art attempt to rectify the leakage problem as seen in the patent to Tears et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,936,038, in which side walls form opposed channels bounding an absorbent core member. The channels are supposed to aid in the prevent of leakage, but the device with the channels results in unacceptable width making it uncomfortable to the wearer and unsightly.